Location-based services aren’t just for cars anymore, as cell phones have become a hot destination for LBS applications, helping subscribers find movies, restaurants, children, even homes. Indeed, think of a business and it’s not difficult to imagine a location-based solution that could help the enterprise conduct that business faster and more efficiently.

Wireless location services for businesses could top 1 million subscribers by 2010, according to an In-Stat report issued earlier this year.

The technology market research firm said the LBS business market is set to nearly double during the next five years from fewer than 600,000 users to 1.1 million. Applications expected to drive uptake include fleet management and dispatch, workforce and sales management and a variety of public-sector uses.

Allyn Hall, director of In-Stat's Wireless Practice, told RCR Wireless News that he thinks carriers are missing an opportunity to provide businesses with specific LBS applications for vertical markets.

"Business people are willing to pay for things that simply aren’t worth it to a consumer," he said. "If carriers are smart, they’ll recognize that there is growth potential in the enterprise space."

Carriers need to pursue the market aggressively by deploying more location-capable handsets and offering attractive applications.

"The forecast for enterprise location-enabled applications using handsets depends on how carriers and applications vendors sort out how they will market these applications and how to structure the billing relationship," said Hall. "In addition, the availability of handsets that are compatible with location-based services is a key factor that depends on marketing and expenditure decisions by carriers."

Sprint Nextel Corp. is offering subscribers Smarter Agent service, giving them access to real-estate information while on the go.

Smarter Agent says the “Recently Sold Homes” service instantly returns information about the closest homes sold within the last three years, including the property’s last sold price, date, taxes and square footage.

The company said Smarter Agent is available to realestate professionals as well as consumers through select Sprint Nextel phones equipped with Global Positioning System technology. By selecting "Map It," the user can see his location and all of the recent home sales in the area on the same map. In addition, the user can search by city and state to research multiple areas of interest, save properties to their phone or call an agent for live support. "Sprint customers can now use Smarter Agent to transform their wireless phone into a powerful real-estate tool," explained said David Owens, director of devices and productivity applications for Sprint Nextel. "This is one of the many exciting GPS-enabled location-based applications Sprint offers that gives customers personalized information when and where they want it on the device they always have with them." Smarter Agent is available in 180 of the 200 largest U.S. markets for about $5 per month, including unlimited searches, though data charges begin at $10 per month unlimited access or 2 cents per kilobyte for casual usage, the company said.

CTIA named Smarter Agent the winner of its 2006 Emerging Technology Awards for the LBS/GPS category.